Sunday, February 14, 2010

The 2010 February Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Michele of Veggie Num Nums. Michele chose to challenge everyone to make mezze based on various recipes from Claudia Roden, Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Dugid.

Mezze is the Mediterranean version of a small plates meal. I love meals like this: dim sum, tapas, etc. I adore being able to have smaller portions of a wide variety of foods, especially when it involves any combination of bread, cheese, fruit & veggies. I've actually made a mezze spread before (check it out), but have definitely never made pita, so that was the most exciting part for me!

Michele asked us to make pita and hummus from scratch, and then to go nuts with the rest of the meal, giving us complete creative freedom. Thanks, Michele!

On the menu:Fresh pita

Lemon hummus

Muhammara (roasted red pepper, walnut, and pomegranate dip)

Assorted veggies, cheese, crackers, nuts, and olives

Borekas

Baklava

For the pita and hummus recipes, and to see what my fellow Daring Cooks came up with this month, head over to the Daring Kitchen.

Because this challenge had so many unique elements to it, I have a series of posts planned this week with more detailed photos and recipes. Stay tuned!

Muhammara yumm yumm it so tasty and your platter spread looks wonderful. Your hummus is sxtra special love that oil on top. Your pita is spot-on well done on this challenge. Cheers from Audax in Sydney Australia.

Thank you so much for participating in the challenge this month. Your food is truly beautiful! I am now addicted to muhammara, though mine didn't come out as pretty as yours. Your pita and hummus look great and I'm just amazed that you made baklava. Wow!